Review – HR 5000 Introduced – Cybersecurity Hiring

Back in August, Rep Mace (R,SC) introduced HR 5000, the Cybersecurity Hiring Modernization Act. The bill would limit the ability of federal agencies to require minimum educational requirements in the hiring of personnel to fill cybersecurity positions in the competitive service. No funding is authorized in this legislation.

Beyond a title change, HR 5000 is nearly identical to HR 4502, the Modernizing the Acquisition of Cybersecurity Experts Act, that was introduced by Mace in July 2023. The bill was amended and ordered favorably reported (without a written report) by the House Oversight and Accountability Committee in July of 2023. The bill was considered in the House under the suspension of the rules process in October of 2023 and passed it by a vote of 394 to 1. No action was taken on the legislation in the Senate. 

Moving Forward

Mace and her sole cosponsor, Rep Brown (D,OH) are both members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to which this bill was assigned for consideration. This means that there may be sufficient influence to see the bill considered in Committee. I would expect that, as with HR 4502, there will be strong bipartisan support for this bill in Committee and on the floor of the House.

 

For more information on the provisions of this bill, and a commentary on why this bill may be addressing a diminishing problem, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-5000-introduced-cybersecurity - subscription required.